Club di Giotto
by Ms Random Freak
Summary: The day Giotto was bored at school could be considered a fateful day. It was the day that started it all. Witness the one-sided loves, awkward moments, awful heartbreaks, and wacky days that shaped Primo's past. Vongola Secondo included. BL, non-canon.
1. Giotto's Brilliant Idea

Disclaimer: MRF holds no claim over any of the characters, except maybe for some unimportant oc's. All Katekyo Hitman Reborn Characters belong to Akira Amano-san and certain companies involved. I gain nothing from this, except for the satisfaction of my readers (I hope) and the reviews I may or may not recieve. Sue me and all you'll get is a paper bag with some lint...

Warnings: AU, failed attempts at humor, undecided pairings, yaoi (eventually)

(A/N: Set in Italy. Because Giotto is about fifteen here, the tenth generation Vongola guardians and co. will have modified ages. Tsuna and the others won't be mentioned yet in this chapter, unfortunately. And like I said, it will be yaoi _eventually_ so please, if you don't like that, don't read it. And if you do like that…well, please be patient with me -fidgets-)

He was bored. Immensely so. His day had been composed of nothing more than classes and lectures. To top it off, Ricardo had abandoned him. Which is how he found himself sitting alone under a sakura tree with his unfinished bento during lunchtime. He had half a mind to just skip school for the rest of his life. If it weren't for his friend, he probably would have done it too.

But Ricardo would not let him do that. Oh no, the dark-haired bishie would sooner skin him alive than let him miss school. Because then Ricardo would be alone in suffering the endless boring sessions of blah blah blah from their teachers, the heaps of cakes thrown at them by girls fresh from home economics class, and of course, the torture device otherwise known as P.E. And Ricardo would not like that one bit. Whatever he suffered through, Giotto had to endure with him. And vice versa...in most cases.

Giotto shook his head and let out a small, sad laugh. He and Ricardo were always together in everything, be it practical jokes or detention. Like last week, when Giotto was caught in the girls' bathroom. Ricardo had been there and they had spent their weekends at school, cleaning classrooms. You could never see them apart for too long. Except today.

Today, Ricardo had called Giotto early and told him, with a few well-placed coughs, that he would not be able to make it to school due to a bacterial infection; therefore Giotto would be alone, to which the latter replied, "You sick bastard. Who said you could skip school and leave me all alone to deal with—" Giotto had flailed his free arm around, "— all this!?"

"Thank you for acknowledging the fact that I am sick. Now then, I think I'm up for a nice long nap…" A small rustle could be heard. "Oh, and Giotto? Don't forget to drop off today's homework, later, at my house, okay? Cia—"

"HOLD ON ONE GODDAMN SECOND!!!"

The end of the line was silent as Ricardo held the phone away from his ear.

"LOOK YOU—! I NEVER SAID YOU COULD SKIP SCHOOL! OR THAT I'D DROP OFF YOUR HOMEWORK!!!"

"I'm—"

"AND DON'T GIVE ME CRAP ABOUT A COLD! I'VE HAD WORSE THAN THAT BEFORE AND **YOU** STILL MANHANDLED **ME** INTO COMING TO SCHOOL!" Giotto was practically roaring into his phone.

"Giotto, I can't come to school today."

"LIKE HELL YOU CAN'T!!! YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"Giotto, it is unwise to order around someone who, might I remind you, kicked your ass in...everything, for the past six years?"

"You can't leave me to endure academic torture all by myself!" Giotto's voice became whiny and...pleading almost.

Ricardo felt just a tiny, little bit guilty.

"Ricardo~!!" Giotto drew out the last syllable enough for it to sound like a moan. Ricardo sighed and Giotto held his breath.

"I can't come today, even if I wanted to, so stop whining." A pause. "I don't want you to get sick too."

Giotto's shoulders slumped. "You get to miss the 100-meter dash, you lucky bastard."

"Ciao, Giotto. And watch you mouth."

"Ciao. And it's only been five years, nine months and twenty-seven days."

After his reminiscent, Giotto packed his lunch, sat back, and relaxed under the tree, watching the clouds drift across the sky. It was a nice day, he thought. If only Ricardo were there to spend it with.

As the thought crossed his mind, a shadow fell over him, blocking out the slim rays of sunlight that filtered through the gaps in the tree's foliage.

"You poor loser," said a deep, and very familiar voice. Giotto looked up and upon seeing his dark-haired friend, broke into a grin. "Ricardo!" he exclaimed happily, jumping up and glomping the poor, unfortunate soul.

Ricardo's face remained stoic even as Giotto's immature behavior drew odd stares from passerby. When the blonde finally let go, Ricardo immediately ducked to avoid the fist coming his way and dodged the kick that followed. Giotto's expression was a mixture of happiness, amusement, and barely suppressed rage.

"Geez, Giotto. I didn't think you'd miss me this much," Ricardo commented as he masterfully dodged every one of Giotto's blows.

"You—" Kick. "Are—" Swing. "The meanest—" Punch. "Two-faced—" Low chop. "Bastard—" Back Flip. "I know—!!" Head bash.

Giotto fell back in a heap afterwards, panting to catch his breath. Physical exertion was just not his thing.

"So what are you having for lunch, you lonesome r-tard?" Ricardo asked, peering down at him and looking nothing but cool and collected.

"A bento. With octopus wieners!" Giotto grinned up at Ricardo, previous matters completely forgotten.

Ricardo gave a disparaging sigh. "What is it with you and Japanese-related things?"

"I want to go to Japan again!" Giotto exclaimed with shining eyes. "Let's bring home a panda next time!"

Shaking his head, Ricardo turned around and began to walk away, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. Japan didn't even have pandas, save for the few in captivity...

"Oi! Where are you going?!"

Ricardo turned back in time to see a light breeze lift and tousle Giotto's golden locks, make ripples appear across his uniform, and send sakura petals fluttering around him. With his luminous feline eyes, flushed cheeks, and bright smile, Ricardo couldn't help but compare him to one of the beautiful gods of the Pantheon. Apollo maybe, or Eros. But more Eros than Apollo since Ricardo didn't, couldn't, imagine Apollo, the god of light and truth, glomping _anybody._

"I have to get what I missed this morning," replied Ricardo, the tone of his voice betraying none of his rather bizarre thoughts about his friend.

"Oh…" Giotto stared at him. He stared back.

"You nerd," Giotto said flatly. Ricardo stayed still and silent until Giotto burst into laughter. "Ricardo, just go. And stop looking like you just saw the Virgin Mother!"

Ricardo's gaze bore into him. "Then you should stop looking like a girl. And work on your laugh. It is too high-pitched and feminine-sounding."

"Haha—wait…Hey!" Giotto noticed the beginning of a smirk appear on Ricardo's face. "Wha— What did you say!?" He had failed to hear what Ricardo said and resorted to flailing his arms around, demanding an answer.

"I said you sound, act, and _look_ like a girl."

"…" Giotto's hands fell to his side and he froze.

"…"

Then Giotto imitated a girl's sultry whisper. "So you were checking me out, hot stuff?~" He winked in what he hoped was a naughty, seductive way.

The older boy stood stock-still, admittedly stunned, before doing a facepalm. "You are a complete idiot." With that, he turned and left Giotto rolling on the grass, laughing.

~X~

When the bell rang, signaling the end of lunchtime, Giotto got up and gathered his things. Then he went to his homeroom class to put away his lunchbox. He passed by a group of girls who were talking about Ricardo, but was too busy to really pay attention to what they were saying. He had been thinking about something over lunch and he wanted to tell Ricardo right away. There was a grin on his face as he practically flew down the stairs and into the wide, open-hall corridor. He skidded to a halt when he saw Ricardo at the end of the shaded pathway that led to the administrative building.

"RICARDO!!" Giotto called out excitedly. Ricardo turned his head as Giotto ran down the corridor, turned the corner and headed straight for him. He held up a hand in greeting…or maybe as a gesture to 'stop before you run me over?'

Giotto jumped him, only then noticing the girl who Ricardo had been talking to. He must not have spotted her earlier because she was hidden behind one of the stone columns. Why was she talking to Ricardo? And why was she red? Did he interrupt something important? Uh-oh, wouldn't Ricardo be mad? He hated it when Giotto interrupted important conversations.

"Get…off."

Giotto blinked down at Ricardo, completely nonplussed. Apparently, clutching your friend around the neck and hanging against his back with your legs wrapped around his waist was completely normal behavior for Giotto. "Guess what," Giotto said mysteriously, breaking the pregnant pause that had followed his dramatic leap.

"What?" Ricardo hissed.

The blonde glanced at the girl. "I'm sorry; Ricardo isn't very nice, is he? He shouldn't forget to finish his first conversation before starting a new one." Ricardo's lips twitched in annoyance.

"Th-that's okay. I'll just…leave you two alone now…" The girl edged away and made a run for it at about three feet away. She turned around a bend and disappeared out of sight.

It was silent where she left the two. "You scared her away," accused Giotto in a hushed whisper.

Ricardo pried Giotto off and glared down at him at maximum intensity. But Giotto was too excited to notice. He was practically jumping up and down. "Guess what, Ricardo! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!"

The taller teen smoothed his features and looked towards the administrative building, where he should have been ten fifteen minutes ago had it been not for two little gnats..."What is it?"

Giotto showed Ricardo his most powerful smile. The one you could not, under any circumstances, turn away from. It was Giotto's persuasive beam pointed at you at max power, complete with shining puppy dog eyes, and the virtual wagging of a tail. "I was thinking...we should start a club!"

The imaginary block letters spelling D-O-O-M fell hard on Ricardo's head.

(A/N: Please, if it's not too much trouble, tell me your opinion about this plot. I'd like to know if I should continue or cease flooding fanfiction with my amateur writing. Thank you for reading!)


	2. What's in a Name?

Disclaimer: MRF holds no claim over any of the characters, except maybe for some unimportant oc's. All Katekyo Hitman Reborn Characters belong to Akira Amano-san and certain companies involved. Today, all I have is food so don't sue me...

Warnings: AU, failed attempts at humor, undecided pairings, yaoi (eventually)

(A/N: I was thinking of a one-sided RicardoxGiotto pairing and eventually G27 since one of my favorite authors love the pairing but I'd like to know what my readers want in here...Sadly, no tenth generations guardians yet, so sorry about that...Speaking of which, no one knows the names of Giotto's guardians so I can't add them here but...man, are they hot...well, that's all, sorry for taking your time and now, on with the story!)

The following day drove Ricardo crazy.

The minute he stepped out of his fancy black Mercedes, after telling his driver to pick him up an hour later than usual, Giotto was all over him, blabbering on about something Ricardo didn't quite listen to.

When he finally fell free of the overexcited blonde's grasp, he rapidly walked away, leaving Giotto shouting for him to come back. Once he reached the confines of the bathroom, Ricardo heaved a sigh. No Giotto here. Unfortunately, he had most of his classes with Giotto which meant there would be no end to the nonsensical chatter. "Just great," said Ricardo out loud, earning him a strange look from the boy nearby who was absentmindedly washing his hands. Ricardo bounced out of there and headed for his first class.

Giotto was with Ricardo for first period. Fantastic!

What's worse than Giotto's ranting, in Ricardo's opinion, was his shouting from across the room to tell Ricardo what kind of snacks they should have at the club. Thanks to that, by the end of first period, everyone was convinced Ricardo owned a strip club of some kind. The word 'strip' was added after a loud classmate obnoxiously yelled, "VOI!!! YOUR COMIC STRIP SUCKS CAVALLONE!!" It didn't matter that Squalo Superbi wasn't even paying attention to Ricardo or Giotto. What mattered was his flawless timing. Suffice to say, Ricardo was not happy, especially with all the weird looks he was getting from the girls and the hopeful looks from the boys. He was almost tempted to revert back to the daunting Ricardo of old, who could have easily dispatched the crowd of bold onlookers with a single icy glare and an equally frosty threat. But of course, he didn't. Giotto wouldn't allow it.

What's worse than what was previously mentioned was Giotto popping up at odd intervals throughout the day—at the worst possible times no less—to suggest random names for the club. Like when Ricardo was in chemistry class—about to pour a highly acidic solute into a test tube so they could see if it would crystallize with the solvent they prepared—Giotto suddenly appeared at the doorway, took one look at the class, and shouted, "RICARDO! MANNECOTTI!! TORTELLINI!! RIGATONI!!" (a/n: he's naming pasta) The unexpected sound of Giotto's voice, at a rather high volume, caused Ricardo to drop the beaker of highly acidic content right into the table and not his lap, thankfully enough. Nevertheless, the fragile glass broke and spilled, creating quite a big mess, as you can probably imagine.

A slow, dark, sinister smile found its way into Ricardo's face as his lab partner animatedly panicked over the acid eating away at the table and at Ricardo's lab coat. The teen, emitting a very dark, very murderous aura, turned his head to the door where a certain blonde was sweating bullets. Giotto ran away as fast as his scrawny legs could carry him, shouting, "See you at lunch, Ricardo~~!" With a weary sigh, Ricardo took off his lab coat and began cleaning up the mess he had created. By then, the acid had gnawed a hole through the lab table. Ricardo profusely apologized to the professor before leaving chemistry and somehow ended up promising the school a new class set of microscopes. His chemistry teacher was a sly old bastard…

All that had happened so far would have been okay to Ricardo, seeing as he was used to the chaos compulsory to being around Giotto, but the latter insisted on being a pest and did exactly what Ricardo wanted him to not do as they made their way to lunch: jump up and down while walking down the hall and suggest people to recruit. Or suggest more lame-ass names. Giotto did both.

"So yeah! We should recruit Xanxus and his friends, the prefect boy, uh…that cute first year, Tsuna, and…"

"Recruit? What are we, a gang?"

"No! We'll be like a yakuza!"

"God, Giotto. You're in Italy for Christ's sake. At least use the proper term."

"Fine! We'll be a mafia family!"

"I refuse."

"Yeah, but—wha—??"

"…"

"Aw! C'mon Ricardo!!" Giotto yanked on Ricardo's arm. "What's better than high school bishies in the mafia!?"

"What in the world is a bishie?" That was once, Ricardo didn't know something Giotto did. Not that anyone's keeping count, of course…

Giotto paused and then yelled, "Don't change the subject!!" Ricardo clapped his hands over his ears in time. "Will you let go of my arm?" he asked resignedly afterwards.

The suddenly quiet blonde released Ricardo and pouted. Ricardo, in turn, lowered his hands and shot Giotto a withering look before resuming his stride. He guessed Giotto would be quite mad at him now but Giotto's soft shuffling steps told him he was still following.

They walked in silence for a while. It was quiet…Very quiet. All Ricardo could hear were light footfalls, echoing across the wide corridor. It was really quiet. It was too quiet. Maybe it was because Ricardo was so used to Giotto's talkative company. And he would never admit it but the blonde being quiet made him uneasy.

As they passed the music room, which emitted a lighthearted version of Mozart's Melody, Ricardo turned his head slightly and glanced at Giotto. Giotto stared back at him with a quiet, intense look that indicated resentment.

Ricardo couldn't believe it. He was getting the stink eye from Giotto. And for what?? For preparing something super special for his freaking birthday, the ungrateful little brat… Well, Giotto didn't know anything about the surprise so…Ricardo smiled at him and received a blatant look of wry amusement in return.

"So, Giotto…"

"Hm…"

Ricardo stopped so he could walk beside Giotto. He just didn't want to suddenly find himself facedown in the floor with Giotto standing over him, fists raised…

"How can you expect to get members—" he still refused to say recruits "—when you don't even have a proper name to use when trying to, ah…get people to join?"

Giotto's brows furrowed. Ricardo assumed he was considering what he had just been told but—

"PASTICCINO, GELATO—"

"Enough with the food!"

—apparently not.

"Then how about alto? Tenor? Baritone? Bass?"

"Giotto, we are not a music group." A muscle in Ricardo's cheek visibly jumped. 'Nor will we ever be…' he swore, remembering the time Giotto tried to play an electric guitar.

"Aw…"

They reached the school cafeteria and went to their table. Giotto bit his thumb, deep in thought, and stared at the ceiling. After a whole five minutes of wasting his time, waiting for Giotto to say something, Ricardo went to get his lunch. Unlike Giotto, he was not a very picky eater so he didn't bring his own lunch…

When Ricardo returned to their table, he set down his tray and ate his clam linguini with relish, occasionally looking at Giotto, who was still deep in thought. Ten minutes later, Ricardo finished. Giotto was still staring off into space. The dark-haired teen went to put away his tray and when he returned, he tapped Giotto on the head. "Done yet?"

"Huh? What?"

Ricardo almost fell over. "What do you mean what? Haven't you been thinking about a name for the club?" Again with the strange looks from people…

"No…" said Giotto slowly. "Was I supposed to be?"

"…" Ricardo stared at Giotto. He stared and stared and stared—

"Stop staring at me like that!!!"

Ricardo rubbed his temple and sat down with a sigh.

"Vongola," Giotto said suddenly.

"Hm?"

"Vongola!"

"As in…clam?"

"Yeah!"

"Eh…should I ask why?"

"No," Giotto said simply.

"Alright."

Giotto smiled brightly.

"This is because I ate that clam linguini, isn't it…" said Ricardo flatly.

"Hn~"

'_So…a family of clams, huh…_'

While they were sitting down, waiting for the bell to ring—Giotto idly looking around and Ricardo reading—a blonde boy who had been sucking on a lollipop for the past half hour, stood up and stretched. There was a small group gathered around his table, though he seemed to be paying them no mind. His gaze was focused on a little robot sitting on a stack of books. "Finally done," Giotto heard him say.

Giotto turned around and rested his chin on the back of his chair so he could see the boy with the curl to the side of his head. '_Hmm…why didn't I think of that_,' thought Giotto. A change of hairstyle might make Ricardo stop calling him a girl. But then again, the curl looked kind of girly. It's just because of the guy that it doesn't look feminine…Besides, he would bet Ricardo would still call him a girl no matter what. He would probably only stop if Giotto cut his hair really short, or had it cropped, or had it all cut. But the thought was so…unwanted. Giotto liked his hair. It was nice and silky and…

"What's that, Spanner?" The sudden sound interrupted Giotto's train of thought. He looked to where the dandelion-haired boy was sitting and saw him holding up a wrench.

Curly boy said something but Giotto didn't hear it. Giotto did see the robot, however, and wanted to go meet the creator himself. He stood to leave but Ricardo looked up from his book and held his gaze. "Where are you going?"

"I want to recruit that kid!" he exclaimed, pointing at Spanner.

(A/N: Reviews are dearly loved. Thank you for reading :3)


	3. Recruit! Spanner

Disclaimer: MRF holds no claim over any of the characters, except maybe for some unimportant oc's. All Katekyo Hitman Reborn Characters belong to Akira Amano-san and certain companies involved. Any resemblance of characters to real life people is purely your imagination. I earn nothing from this. So don't sue me...

Warnings: AU, failed attempts at humor, undecided pairings, yaoi (eventually), OOC-ness (I don't really know how Giotto acted as a kid. But don't worry, he's not going to stay childish forever. I'm sorry if I seem like I'm butchering him...)

(A/N: I love Spanner! He's so cool. Anyway, I'm sorry, this is slow. Tsuna and co. aren't here yet...But I promise I'll start working on it. Especially since my teachers are so nice this week. I barely have any homework. Just a ton of projects...Oh, and uh... Giotto is Vongola Primo. Ricardo is supposedly, at least in this story, Vongola Secondo...because I had no idea until a few days ago that his real name was actually still anonymous...I'm a failure, I don't even know their names. But "My Beloved" has Ricardo as Vongola Secondo so yeah...we'll just go with that...)

'_How did I get myself into this?'_ Ricardo wondered.

Giotto was holding his hand.

"Let's go!" The second their calculus teacher was out the door, Giotto pulled Ricardo out of his seat and forcibly dragged him across the room to where curly-top, Giotto's new nickname for the dandelion-haired boy, was sitting with his robot. When they reached the other side, Giotto walked up to the boy's seat and suddenly slammed his hands down on the table. The students sitting around that particular area clutched their chests in shock and turned to gape at the source of the unexpected noise. The owner of the seat merely raised his gaze to stare at Giotto.

Giotto held out a hand to curly-top and smiled a captivating smile that made girls swoon and boys wish that he were a she. Then he spoke in a rich, vibrant soprano, "Join my club…"

Ricardo held his breath. He actually thought that maybe Giotto would succeed this time. The universe does conspire in helping people fulfill their dreams, after all. And Giotto couldn't be that…

"—Scanner."

…hopeless. That totally ruined the moment. _'ARGH!!! Why the hell did he have to say that!?!'_

Curly-top's eyes widened a fraction of an inch. Ricardo hung his head. Giotto continued to beam at the boy in front of him, unaware of his mistake. The class, who had caught on to the conversation, went completely quiet.

"Giotto—" Ricardo began to say. The blonde looked back at him and pressed two fingers against his lips. "Shh!" Giotto then turned his back on the stunned, dark-haired teen.

'_Well…ouch. Did I just get…shushed?'_ Giotto's apparent disregard for his assistance annoyed Ricardo. _'Fine. I'll just stand back and watch you get humiliated. Again. Shush, my ass…'_

Giotto gently shook the poor boy's table. "So will you join? Will you? Will you? Will you? C'mon Scanner! C'mon! Say yes!"

"Thanks for the offer but—" Curly-top began to say icily.

"Join!" Giotto exclaimed. The other boy didn't even bat an eyelash when Giotto interrupted him.

"…It's very nice of you to invi—"

"Join us, join us, joins us, join us," Giotto repeatedly chanted. Like before, the stoic boy remained unfazed. He actually looked rather bored.

"I'm afraid I ca—"

"Ne, Scanner…We have sushi! So join! Join, join, join!"

Blue eyes lit up at the sound of sushi but any interest that might have resulted from the mention of Japanese cuisine was immediately trampled. "Scanner. Scanner. You know you want to, Scanner."

Scanner. Scanner. Scanner. The mantra of the word very close to his name but not his name, bothered the blue-eyed, blonde-haired teen. Even more so when he remembered a first year that had a barcode on his cheek…Scanners scanned barcodes didn't they? And even though he was really into gadgets, there was no reason to call him an actual apparatus. Scanner. He sucked on his flat lollipop thoughtfully. No doubt Byakuran would be putting that new nickname to good use. Who was the genius who started it again? Oh yes, the boy standing right in front of him.

"Listen, you. And don't interrupt," said curly-top around his sucker.

Giotto promptly hushed.

"Instead of wasting your time annoying me…why don't you go get yourself a haircut, yeah?" drawled the teen.

"…why?"

Curly-top was silent. Ricardo was waiting with bated breath for the next exchange of words. He wished he had a camcorder right then. He could use it to laugh at Giotto later and maybe convince the former to finally get a haircut if what curly-top meant what he thought he meant.

"Well, I don't know if that's your way of recruiting but I don't think people will be very convinced that you're a girl if you're just going to work on your hair." He said this with a straight, honest face.

"…"

"…"

The teacher returned just as the bell rang and Curly-top escaped Giotto's wrath but not before he had the last word. "And my name isn't Scanner. It's Spanner. Get it right next time."

~X~

"So…" Ricardo turned his head slightly. "You giving up yet?"

Giotto was still rather mad. Ricardo could almost see the steam coming out of his ears…But hey, he refused Ricardo's help so that's what he got…Ricardo hummed jauntily. He could smell a dose of 'I tried to tell you…' brewing.

"That guy…acting so cool…" Giotto mumbled darkly.

"You mean Spanner?"

Giotto whipped around and smacked Ricardo. "You knew his name yet you didn't stop me from repeating it over and over and over—!?"

Ricardo glared down at him. "I tried to tell you."

"Wha—You did?" Giotto asked doubtfully. At Ricardo's affirmative nod, he slouched and trudged on. "Un…"

Ricardo felt a little bad. But still, there was that sense of satisfaction that Giotto was taught another lesson, which was…to never shush Ricardo. "I suppose this means you're giving up on a mechanic clam?"

"…"

"…"

"Hell no! Didn't I say it? He's cool! We have to have him! And having a mechanic in the club would be a great advantage!! Let's go find him right now!"

Suffice to say, Ricardo was once again surprised. He should have been used to it but sometimes, Giotto's positive-ness was just…astounding.

~X~

Spanner inwardly groaned when he saw a flaxen blur coming right at him. He did a 360 and ran.

Unfortunately, Giotto could be quite agile when necessary. And getting Spanner to join the club was as necessary as outrunning the cops to avoid getting jailed a few months ago…

Within record time, Giotto had Spanner by the waist while Ricardo was still leisurely walking towards them.

"Giotto…let go of him," Ricardo nonchalantly ordered.

Giotto did but he stood behind the strangely unruffled boy to thwart any escape attempts he might try.

"I expected you to have given up on me but it seems not."

"Nope! I still want you to join," Giotto said.

"There's no changing his mind once he got his sights on something," Ricardo airily reasoned as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Spanner nodded in understanding. "You're very stubborn," he commented, turning to Giotto.

"Does that mean you'll join?" Giotto asked carefully.

"…"

"He's not going to stop bothering you about it until you give in. Even the chairman got worn down by his constant tittering about planting a Sakura Tree," Ricardo intoned. "Better to concede defeat now than later. Less of a hassle that way…"

"Ah…" Spanner scratched his head and then flashed them a full-blown smile, both charming and roguish. "I really can't join you. See, I'm already in a group…the Black Spell of the Millifiore Family."

Giotto blinked. Ricardo uttered a quiet, "Huh." And Spanner sucked on his lollipop.

A few seconds, what Spanner said sunk in and Giotto's jaw dropped. An eerie hush followed.

After some time, Ricardo broke the pregnant silence with a short laugh, "You lose out on this one, Giotto. A 'thousand flowers' is way more elegant than a family of clams." Ricardo stared at Giotto who was utterly speechless. Then he turned to Spanner and said, "I think it's best if you left now, Spanner."

The deathly ice in Ricardo's tone had Spanner raising an eyebrow. But the granite in the dark-haired student's gaze had Spanner nodding. "Ciao," he casually said before shuffling away.

Once the blue-eyed kid was gone, Ricardo tsk'd and took a step closer to Giotto. "Hey…" Giotto refused to look up. Failing to elicit a response from his still friend annoyed Ricardo. But it also made him worry…like the way a big brother would about his sibling. Something in his gut told him something was wrong…

Giotto suddenly gazed up at Ricardo, his eyes burning with rage…and barely suppressed delight. "RICARDO!!!!" Giotto howled.

"Wh-what?"

"We have to have divisions too!!! See, we gotta recruit Xanxus and his minions!! They can be a special branch of the family!! And-and—" Giotto was shaking with excitement and Ricardo was simply dumbfounded. "We shall beat every other wannabe family out there! And we will rise to the very top," Giotto vowed, looking very solemn…and oddly enough, happier than Ricardo had ever seen him.

For a moment, Ricardo thought that maybe his eyes had deceived him because as Giotto said those words, he saw an image of the scrawny, fragile, golden-eyed _child_ towering over a group of various characters—lean, noticeably powerful people who, despite looking pleasant, seemed as though they were ready to fight to the death for the person standing loftily amidst them. And behind the sunlit streaks of fair blond hair stood an array of loyal subordinates, standing proudly for their leader…

'…_their family,' _Ricardo's mind quietly intoned.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Ricardo gently chided as he broke out of his reverie. "You don't even have an HQ yet."

Giotto's grin never faltered. "We'll get to that, but for now…due to the lack of participating members, you, Ricardo, are automatically nominated as the vice-president and secretary of the club! All who approve say 'Aye.' Aye!! Ricardo, you're officially the vice-president and secretary of the family! Congratulations! Now get to work and look up these other "families." Giotto did air quotations with his fingers and smiled brightly while Ricardo looked on.

"My vote doesn't count?"

"You're a nominee, you can't vote."

"Why do_ I_ have to do the research?"

"Because I'm already president so I can't be the secretary, and the last time I checked, secretaries did all the unnecessary paperwork so that all the boss has to do is sign!" You really couldn't argue with Giotto's logic. "I'll be seeing you then! Ciao~~!!"

Complaints fell on deaf ears even as Ricardo raised his hand to object. His outstretched arm was left hanging as Giotto sped away. "Oh yeah, sure, give me all the work. Why not make me treasurer as well while you're at it!?" Ricardo loudly protested to nobody in particular. He turned away. He was going to be late for History…

Before he could take a step, however, a distant voice caught his ear. "You'd never let me buy yummy snacks if you were in charge of the funds! So hahaha!"

Ricardo simply shook his head as Giotto's childish laughter resounded throughout the hall.

(A/N: There you go! Finally got that out of the way! I'm bad at updating and for that, I'm deeply sorry...But wait for winter break :D Reviews are lovely and thanks for reading!)


	4. Animals

Disclaimer: MRF holds no claim over any of the characters, except maybe for some unimportant oc's. All Katekyo Hitman Reborn Characters belong to Akira Amano-san and certain companies involved. Any resemblance of characters to real life people...you must be high. No one can match these people's awesomeness. Anyway, don't own, don't sue. All I had were candy canes today and even those got taken away already...

Warnings: AU, failed attempts at humor, undecided pairings (if no one suggests any pairings, my favorite couples are going on here), yaoi, OOC-ness (I don't know how Ricardo acts either!), randomness?

(A/N: Still no Tsuna. Yes, I'm sorry!! I just finished typing up my research paper...Thank you for all the reviews and alerts, and favorites! *happy happy* )

Ricardo was busy for the next two days. He met up with Giotto in between classes but other than that, he made no other effort to see his blonde friend. Giotto, in all honesty, did not mind. But that's because he thought Ricardo was trying to sniff out the other 'families' like he told him to.

After two days of little contact, Giotto decided Ricardo was taking too long in doing his job. As the golden-eyed blonde reached the gates of the school, he saw Ricardo standing under the eaves of the building, talking to someone whose silhouette was too vague for Giotto to recognize. Nevertheless, Giotto waved his arm—not just his hand, but his whole arm, mind you—and called Ricardo's name. The latter either did not hear him or was purposely ignoring him because he gave no sign of acknowledgement whatsoever. Giotto stomped his feet at Ricardo's lack of attention and ran up the steps. Before he reached them however, the silhouette turned and left, leaving Ricardo alone for Giotto to bombard with complaints. As Giotto approached, Ricardo swiveled around and gave him the usual stoic face. "Oh…hello, Giotto," he greeted.

Giotto smiled, temporarily forgetting Ricardo's _deafness_ earlier. "Good morning!"

Ricardo almost smiled too but he caught himself and pivoted around just as the bell rang. He really was beginning to smile too much.

Giotto followed Ricardo to their first period class and informed him of the finalization of the club. "I got all the boring paperwork done! And our club advisor was decided on too!"

Ricardo thought he heard Giotto wrong but Giotto's cheerful, smug expression told him other wise. Ricardo tipped his head and glanced at the blonde in slight awe. To Giotto it looked like the kind of face parents used when their toddlers first utilized the potty without help. "What's with that face?" Giotto asked, wrinkling his nose.

"What face?"

"That…that face! It's like…mocking me…"

"It's nothing," said Ricardo, walking on ahead. "I'm just proud of you, that's all. I can't believe you actually did the paperwork…" Giotto caught up to him and crossed his arms over his chest, grinning proudly. "I take my duty as president seriously. I even listened to the discussion afterwards about the rules and the budget and stuff. Oh, and Ricardo…" Giotto's self-satisfied tone faltered. "Haha, just curious…have you ever tried rabbit cakes? They're really, really yummy and—"

At the mention of 'yummy' Ricardo's head whipped around and his gaze bore into Giotto. "What did you…"

"—they were 15 euros for 10—"

"You didn't…"

Giotto bit his lip and then looked up at Ricardo, smiling tentatively. "Oh look! Is that your chemistry teacher?!" When Ricardo's eyes flickered, Giotto ran inside the classroom and took his seat which was far, far away from Ricardo's. Still outside, Ricardo took a deep breath before entering. He couldn't believe Giotto depleted the club budget already. And on what? On snacks. Yummy snacks to be sure but still…snacks. He shot Giotto a sly, accusing glare before taking his seat just as their teacher entered.

~X~

After first hour, Ricardo left quickly, leaving Giotto wondering where the heck he went. Giotto only spent five minutes looking for Ricardo because the bell rang. He was late for class.

The anxious blonde endured Biology, frantically thinking about what Ricardo might do to him for buying a whole lot of rabbit cakes…It couldn't be that bad, Giotto tried to reassure himself. But then again…that was the club's **whole** budget for the **entire **year that he spent. Ricardo was going to roast him over an open pit fire with marshmallows and pineapples for sure!

'_Hey, but I bought some of his favorite snacks too!' _Giotto mentally argued.

'_Yes, and that comprised about…one percent of the total merchandise you ordered. The other ninety-nine percent were all your likes,' _Pessimistic Giotto retorted.

'_Ricardo might like rabbit cakes!' _Optimistic Giotto offered helpfully.

'_You are what you eat!' _Pessimistic Giotto quipped_. 'And Ricardo ain't no rabbit.' _

The physical Giotto tugged at his hair and let out an unsophisticated cry of, "Ugh! Rikerdosgonkeelmeee…" which drew some odd stares from people around him. But he was used to it so he didn't mind. What he did mind was the voices in his head arguing about what Ricardo might and might not do to him. They wouldn't stop talking! "Shut up," Giotto hissed pleadingly.

His seatmate—a slender, silver-haired boy with intense matching eyes—glared at him, while the rest of the class turned around to stare. The teacher, who looked scary enough with that vivid burn scar etched on her face, whipped around with a scowl and threw a piece of chalk at Giotto. "Are you hearing voices now?"

Giotto blushed and shook his head.

About half an hour into class, Giotto noticed that his seatmate was still looking at his direction. He glanced at the other boy and sure enough, the silverette was still glaring at him. The blonde visibly sweatdropped. It was never a good thing to have a boy, specifically one named after a shark, glare at you for so long as if he wanted nothing more than to cut off your head, rip your heart to shreds, and feed your lacerated remains to a starving, carnivorous animal. In simpler terms, Squalo Superbi was not one you wanted to cross swords with. Both literally and not. Giotto idly wondered, as he shrank back in fear, why the hell did they (the school administration and staff) let a kid with obvious anger management issues join the Sword Fighting Club.

"C-can I help you?" Giotto asked, playing nonchalance.

"You told me to shut up."

"Huh…what?"

"You fucking told me to shut up."

Giotto resisted the urge to tell Squalo to watch his mouth. "No, I didn't—I wasn't—You've got it all wrong—!!"

"No? Are you calling me a liar now?"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean—"

"Do I need to kick both your asses out of my class, the two of you over there by the window?!" the teacher yelled, chucking another piece of chalk over her shoulder. She continued writing anyway.

"VOI! THIS FUCKING PIECE OF TRASH TOLD ME TO SHUT UP!" Squalo exclaimed, standing up and slamming his hands down on the table.

Giotto stood up too, but only because he wanted a good chance of escape if Squalo decided to jump him then and there. "I wasn't talking to you, honestly."

The silver-haired boy blinked. The teacher let out an unintelligible string of curses. Then she turned around and glared at the both of them. "Superbi, if you're going to _thrash around_ like the _little fish_ that you are, go do it somewhere else," said the woman scathingly. The teacher turned back to the board and rapped it with her knuckles. "Everyone write this down!" No one moved. "Now," she ordered. Seats scraped against the floor and the scratching of pencils began as the students copied down their teacher's messy scrawl.

The blue-haired female went to sit behind her desk and rested her feet on top of the table. She lowered her red-tinted goggles and sighed to herself. Why was she stuck teaching biology to loud, impolite brats when she could be out there, whipping puny kids into shape? Like Colonnello was, she thought resentfully.

"This isn't over, trash," Squalo declared proudly. Then he sat down and started jotting down the notes. Giotto did likewise and followed his example, occasionally glancing at him through lowered lashes.

At the end of class, Giotto fumbled with his bag as Squalo rose to get up. When the latter left without acknowledging him, Giotto raised his head and saw him standing by the door, looking up at a dark-haired boy who Giotto almost mistook for Ricardo. But Ricardo would never wear such girly-looking feathers…Giotto's eyebrow soared. And Ricardo would never kill an animal for a totally unfashionable piece of hair accessory! What was that anyway? A raccoon tail!? He marched up to the two, intent on speaking his mind. Animals have feelings too! Killing them for fur to clip to the back of your head is so not cool. And raccoons are cute! Giotto _liked _raccoons. Before he could reach the door, however, the two had already walked off, jackets flapping in the non-existent breeze.

The blonde was left in the dust, watching two tall profiles disappear down the corridor. _'Damn it, they look so cool,'_ he thought wistfully. Then he shook his head. He wasn't supposed to admire animal-killers!

"Hey," greeted a familiar voice.

(A/N: I realized that in all but one Giotto/Tsuna fics I've ever read, Giotto is always the seme. So..just curious...if something happened between Giotto and Ricardo who do you think would top? I'm not promising anything. I'm just…wondering…So yeah! I should sleep now so enough blabber.)


	5. Subtle Signs

Disclaimer: MRF holds no claim over any of the characters, except maybe for some unimportant oc's. All Katekyo Hitman Reborn Characters belong to Akira Amano-san and certain companies involved. Any resemblance of characters to real life people is purely your imagination. I'm broke. Don't sue or anything, 'kay?

Warnings: AU, failed attempts at humor, yaoi, OOC-ness

(A/N: I'm sooo sorry. It took so long to update because I couldn't decide who the familiar voice should belong to and there was just really a lot going on at school that ended up taking alot of my free time. But I was totally inspired to update today because we finished watching _Au Revoir, les Enfants _in French. And I loved it! The ending was sad and seemed a tad too abrupt. But come to think of it, that's probably why I was all teary-eyed at the end. Anyway, it was a really moving film. Kuhuhu...it doesn't hurt that there was a little boy love in there...Ahem, back on topic. Um...enjoy?)

Giotto stared off into the distance until the two figures disappeared. He turned when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

Ricardo instinctively stepped to the side as Giotto jumped to glomp him. With a slight smirk, he peered down at the blonde and asked, "Are you alright?"

The other, who was face down on the floor, energetically jumped to his feet and punched Ricardo's arm. "You meanie-!"

"I apologize."

"…"

"…"

"Forgiven. So…hey, wait-! Where've you been all day! I was late for class because of you! She almost gave me detention…"

Ricardo petted Giotto's gold-framed head and said, "Tsk, a shame she didn't. C'mon, I'm starving." He bent down to pick up Giotto's discarded bag and strolled away in the direction of the cafeteria. Giotto stopped to stick out his tongue at the back of Ricardo's head before following.

When the two reached the lunch hall, Giotto idly sat on a chair while Ricardo went to fetch his food. When Ricardo came back, Giotto grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room, across the width of the hall, and into the grass-covered grounds. Once they reached the spot Giotto was particularly fond of, he inhaled and purposely fell back, smiling sweetly.

Ricardo, who was about to scold Giotto, reined in the oncoming verbal abuse and sat down cross-legged instead. He began eating, occasionally stealing brief glances at Giotto.

When Giotto's stomach finally voiced its complaints, he sat up and grabbed his bento. With shining eyes and an ever eager smile, he dug in with relish. He momentarily forgot about everything else as he savored the taste of raw-ish tuna in rice and nori. He had asked the cook, namely his mother, to make a variety of sushi for him so he had to guess what kind of fillings there were inside the rolls. The first was tuna, obviously. He loved tuna next to sweets so there was no mistaking the flavor. The next one was salmon with avocado. The third was chicken and something he couldn't name. As he continued to experimentally pick at his food, Ricardo continued eating as well, his lunch being simpler than his anything-Japanese-associated-loving friend. The lunch people had given him cheese ravioli with some sort of glaze. He was no expert on food. He simply ate food, was his rationale.

As he thought about that, Giotto suddenly let out loud cough. "Hot, hot, hot," he cried out, waving a hand in front of his face. The other hand held up a half-bitten roll of makizushi, which was rapidly falling apart and ending up on Giotto's lap.

With a swift, decisive movement, Ricardo grabbed Giotto's hand, leaned down, and took the sushi in his mouth. There was no reaction from the stoic boy at first and Giotto was too busy to notice. But when the hot tang reached his taste buds, Ricardo did a little double take and immediately reached for his drink. Fighting to keep his composure, he sloshed down the cool liquid until the burning feeling passed.

Giotto meanwhile, was still stuck between hacking and panting. Ricardo kindly offered the blonde what remained of his drink.

When they were both calm, Giotto began removing the sushi rolls with wasabi from his lunch box. Ricardo watched him do it, eyeing the wasabi evilly. After that, the two resumed what they were doing, not really in the mood to talk, as they were growing rather fond of the comfortable silence. They quietly ate under the sakura tree, content in listening to the wind rustle the leaves, in letting the breeze lift their hair and send petals fluttering about, and in watching the grass ripple as zephyr gently blew across the field. While they tried to prolong the moment, each inadvertently studied the other.

Ricardo discreetly peeked at his friend from beneath lowered lids. He took notice of how the filtering rays of sunlight created gold patches on Giotto and how the soft halo in the background made him look ethereal. His lips looked slightly fuller, probably due to the wasabi, and as Ricardo noticed that, he began to question whether he was supposed to notice that.

Casting misgivings aside, Ricardo moved on to Giotto's eyes. They…he couldn't explain them. Sometimes Giotto's eyes were carefree blue like the sky, sometimes they were somewhere between warm gold and fiery orange. Blue when he was being immature and yellow to orange when serious. It was strange, really, but he had never bothered to ask why or how that was possible. He liked them so he didn't really need to complain, did he? Right now, Giotto's eyes were a flickering golden orange color and his slender brows furrowed which meant he was mulling over something he considered a very serious matter. It was rare for the blonde to be quiet (although the sudden silences have been happening quite frequently) and solemn, so Ricardo only occasionally saw that side of him. But whenever he did, his heart would skip a beat (or two) and a wave of uncertainty would wash over him. Then a light tinge of pink would uncharacteristically appear on his cheeks. Subsequently he would tap his head and shake it off as nothing.

Giotto, on the other hand, openly studied Ricardo. When he realized what he was doing, he made no effort to stop. He pointed out certain things and little details that appealed to him like, "You look nice in that sweater", "Your hair looks nice spiked up. You should keep it that way" or "Smile more often. It makes your eyes sparkle"; and when Ricardo stared at him in a WTF-dumb way, he would simply smile and fumble with his chopsticks before swallowing noisily.

When they finished with their meal, Ricardo went to sit beside the tree and leaned back, content and happy, as evident in the soft sigh he released. Giotto lay on the grass, blinking his eyes against the sun's rays that the tree's foliage let through.

After more silence, Giotto decided to voice out what had been eating away at his thoughts all day. "Ricardo…"

The dark-haired boy grunted, showing he was listening.

"…you're not mad about the rabbit cakes are you?" There was a pause in which Giotto suspended his breathing.

"You're honestly worrying about that?" asked Ricardo, slightly incredulous.

"Well…yeah. I was being selfish and messed up." Giotto closed his eyes and mumbled, "…sorry."

Ricardo mulled over what he should say next before speaking. "I'm not exactly mad that you used up our funds…"

Giotto's eyes slowly lit up with hope and the weight in his chest became light.

"—so long as you pay it back."

Never mind. The weight was back and it was twice as heavy. Giotto snapped up and twisted to look at Ricardo. "What?"

"You. Are. In. Debt," said Ricardo, making sure to punctuate each syllable clearly.

"But-but…It would take—" Giotto made a nonsensical gesture with his hand. "—That much time to save up enough..."

"…"

"My allowance isn't that big, you know."

"…"

"But-but...I won't be able to buy sweets anymore!"

"Or manga. Or anime DVD's. Or anything quite remotely Japanese-related."

Giotto's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"But if you're diligent in paying off your loan and if you show me you really are serious about this club business…then I just might consider deducting your 'salary' from the total amount of your debt."

The moment lapsed into silence as Giotto weighted his choices and Ricardo waited for his response. Then, with a slightly manic gleam in his eyes and a sly grin on his lips, Giotto rubbed his hands together and said, "Very well." That actually made Ricardo shudder.

"Your face…"

"My face?"

"Was very creepy just now."

Giotto brushed off the comment and told Ricardo about his ingenious plan of doing a fundraiser and selling the rabbit cakes for a slightly higher price. "That way, the club will earn a profit and I'd have made everyone happy!"

"Really?" Ricardo asked, unimpressed. "You really think cheating people out of their money will make them happy?"

"…" Giotto stared at Ricardo. "What they don't know won't hurt them…"

Ricardo simply shook his head and leaned back to relax some more. And they all thought he was the wicked one…

~X~

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Giotto packed up his things and strolled out the door, eager to get home. As he crossed the doorframe, he bumped into someone. There was a soft exclamation, followed by the sound of things falling and clattering to the floor.

Giotto gasped and bent down immediately. "I'm so sorry!" He began picking up the books by his feet, mumbling apologies and mentally reprimanding himself for spacing out.

"Ah…it's okay…"

Giotto's hand reached for a pencil beside a pair of small feet and he inadvertently looked up. "A-ah…" His mouth hung open as he stared at the first year in front of him.

The first year blushed and bent down to pick up the pencil. Then he took his things from Giotto, mumbled a thank you that the blonde barely heard, and went into the classroom.

~X~

When Ricardo met up with Giotto at the gate, the blonde was floating on cloud nine.

"What's up with you?"

Giotto hummed. "I saw someone today~" He beamed, looking like someone who was keeping a great secret from everyone.

Ricardo rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me. You saw that little squirt you admire so much again, didn't you?"

Giotto sighed happily. "Hm~"

"Giotto…"

"Hm?"

"Uh—hn…never mind."

"'kay…" Giotto continued staring into space with a goofy smile on his face, blissfully thinking of the skinny brunette, while Ricardo stood back, silently looking out for his chauffeur.

When the aged driver came, Ricardo shoved Giotto in and received a kick in the gut as a thank you. He grunted and dived headfirst into the back seat, surprising the old man at the wheel. The old driver raised the black-tinted screen between the driver's seat and the back, to give his young master some privacy. He softly chuckled, remembering the good ol' days when…

What he didn't know was that Ricardo was with Giotto…who was male.

Meanwhile, the two were viciously wrestling in the leather-clad back seat. Giotto was on his back with his left knee propped up and his arms held out in front of him. Ricardo was in an awkward position. He was on top, one hand clutching Giotto's right, and the other, trying to keep that _one_ knee down. "Goddamn it, stop fucking doing that!" Ricardo hissed as Giotto bucked in an attempt to throw him off.

"Well then get off!" Giotto laughed.

A growl ripped out of Ricardo's throat as Giotto raised his knee again, causing it to slide up Ricardo's thigh…

"Giotto!" Ricardo sternly reprimanded.

The blonde stopped and stared up at Ricardo with mirthful eyes. "What?"

"Sit up."

Still smiling teasingly, Giotto lowered his knee and propped himself up on his elbows, waiting for Ricardo to get off him.

Ricardo moved to sit upright, still on his knees. The car suddenly stopped as the chauffeur slammed on the brakes. Ricardo pitched sideways and fell to the floor. Giotto followed shortly, landing right on top of Ricardo. When the chauffeur checked to see if they were fine, Ricardo let out a groan from the floor. "My apologies, young master. There was a cat crossing the street," said the aged man solemnly. Without waiting for a reply, he raised the screen again and put on earmuffs. He hummed as he drove, effectively blocking off the erotic sounds he _thought_ he was sure to hear.

Ricardo and Giotto hit their heads against the leather seat when the car moved again.

"Giotto…" The blonde's face was way too close, Ricardo noticed.

"Hm…?" Giotto didn't notice anything except for the jutting bone uncomfortably digging into his ribs.

"Get the hell off of me."

"Right," said the blonde distractedly.

Their legs were tangled and the car floor, despite being clean and fragrant, was quite a tight fit. Giotto, try as he might, could not move very much, unless he was willing to inflict pain upon his dark-haired amico's person.

"Anytime now, Giotto."

"Uh…about that…"

The car stopped again and the two hit their heads against the back of the driver's seat…again.

"I swear, he's doing that on purpose," Ricardo muttered as the chauffeur sounded out an apology which was muffled due to the screen.

"Ugh…get a new driver, Ricardo."

"I would if you'd just get off, Giotto."

"Heh…I can't."

Ricardo's eyes narrowed at the sheepish grin.

"I'm stuck."

"You fat ass."

"Hey!"

"Told you all those sweets were bad for you…"

"Oh, shut up. You would be too. You're wider than me."

"…"

"…"

"Well what now?"

"I don't know…" Giotto rested his chin on Ricardo's chest. "Wanna make out?"

"What the fuck is wrong with you today?"

"I don't know. I think I might have hit my head a little too hard."

"On a cushioned leather seat?" Ricardo's elegant brow rose skeptically.

"Heh…" Giotto grinned. "You know I was just kidding."

Ricardo turned his head but found the black leather very disinteresting. So he faced Giotto and settled with staring at the ceiling instead.

For the duration of the ride, Ricardo remained lying uncomfortably on the floor with Giotto snugly draped over him. Not for the first time, Ricardo regretted living so far away from the city. His whole body was going to be completely numb by the time they reached the house…And to top it off, Giotto had fallen asleep on top of him. 'Maybe it's for the better. All he ever does is talk anyway…' Ricardo thought, sifting through the soft strands of flaxen hair within his finger's reach. As he pondered over that, he felt Giotto stir and he immediately dropped his hand.

Giotto mumbled something incoherent. When the blonde did nothing else, Ricardo began toying with his hair again. The rest of the ride home was steadfastly quiet.

The car came to a halt. Upon hearing the chauffeur exit the car, Ricardo shook Giotto awake. "Oi, wake up. Giotto."

"Mm..?" The blonde's eyes fluttered open. "Home?"

"My house."

Giotto let out a huge yawn and smoothly rose before tumbling out the door. Ricardo followed suit, though less gracefully due to his slightly larger bulk. He grabbed their bags and went after Giotto. His brows knotted into a frown as he stared after his friend. '_He wasn't really stuck. What the hell?_'

(a/n: I don't deserve reviews for updating this late...(u_u) Thanks for reading and come again.)


	6. Contemptuous versus Caring

Disclaimer: MRF holds no claim over any of the characters, except maybe for some unimportant oc's. All Katekyo Hitman Reborn Characters belong to Akira Amano-san and certain companies involved. Any resemblance of characters to real life people is a computer error. I own more than an aborigine family in terms of material possessions. But still. Don't sue or anything…

Warnings: AU, lame jokes, ooc-ness, oc's, yaoi and rape

Just kidding.

No rape.

Ricardo would have me _killed_. Unless of course he was the one who—okay, yep, shutting up now.

(A/N: Hello! I decided to name the chauffeur! So his name is now Ivor Devilly, not that it's really important…or is it? Um…I'm sorry for not updating often enough. Also, please do forgive me for making this chapter a bit different than usual. If it isn't your cup of tea, then I understand if you'd quit reading. Anyway, I tried my best and I hope you enjoy. See you on the other side!)

Ricardo tried to burn a hole through the back of Giotto's head with a stare, half hoping that if he did succeed, Giotto's thoughts would pour out. But sadly, it didn't work. Sometimes, Ricardo wished he could read minds. Or owned something that could read minds so he could find out what was going on in Giotto's head. He wished it all the time.

Giotto stepped inside the mansion and jumped when he was greeted by a chorus of welcomes. "Wrong person," he muttered awkwardly, stepping aside for Ricardo.

He took his bag from his friend and shuffled his feet uncomfortably, undoubtedly aware of the curious stares directed at him by a dozen or so pairs of eyes. They always seemed to be curious about him, even though he had known them since the first time he visited and had, over the years, memorized all their names by heart. They still treated him like a stranger and despite his polite disregard for their blatant disrespect, they remained impersonally cordial.

Their stares were unnerving. This was why he always felt uncomfortable in Ricardo's house. There were too many probing eyes that scrutinized his every move. And by that, he was referring to both human eyes and mechanical ones. Ricardo had told him, once while they were playing a game on espionage, that there were hidden cameras scattered throughout the entire mansion. Even Ricardo's room had half a dozen or so. Every suite was required to have one. All except maybe the master's bedroom…but Giotto wasn't about to go check.

The only rooms without security cams were the bathrooms. But even those were bugged. Giotto often wondered if Ricardo's parents were really just that paranoid or if there was a world record out there for most hidden, security cameras in a house and if so, were Ricardo's parents hoping to gain it? Giotto failed at trying to amuse himself.

Ricardo, who was not one to overlook small details, let alone blatant leers and gawks directed at Giotto, saw the way his friend was holding himself rather stiffly and was quick to dismiss the servants with an order to prepare snacks for their guest. Giotto watched him, not feeling particularly hungry, and was about to say so when Ricardo abruptly turned to stare him down. "We don't have bunny cakes or whatever. Just some blueberry muffins."

Giotto feigned a pout. "And I thought you knew everything…"

Ricardo flashed him a questioning look.

"They're rabbit cakes, Ricardo. Not bunnies."

"Right, right…rabbits, bunnies…mole rats…"

Giotto laughed softly and let Ricardo steer him up the stairs into his bedroom.

~X~

The maids in the kitchen gossiped like magpies. It was a fact. The elder servants, who had worked for the family longer than the girls had walked earth, admonished them. "It is disrespectful to speak of the master and his guest in such a way."

"Hmph. But I'm only stating the obvious."

"The young master and his friend…

"… are more than just friends."

"Hush! Or you will all be gone before the sun is set."

"You know it too."

"Don't say you haven't noticed."

"You've seen it, surely—the way he is…protective of that boy." The girl who spoke wrinkled her nose.

"I know and speculate nothing; neither should you."

"Don't be daft, old woman. Master Ricardo is never that intimate with others."

"The young master is obviously taken with him. He has been corrupted by that vile boy."

"One needs only a single glance. Master Ricardo is…different…when he's around."

"Your arguments are weak and insubstantial. Now hush and get to work."

"But he _never_ invites anyone else up there," a freckled maid insisted. "And they're cooped up in his bedroom all—Ahh!"

The elderly cook raised her ladle and began to thwack the girls in the head. The cluster of maids immediately scattered before regrouping in the corner. "Huu…she's so violent," whined a dark-haired girl, who was painfully rubbing her sore head, where a visible bump was forming.

"Now, now…you girls get along. You all work for the same household, after all. No need to start a feud like that of Old Capulet and Montague's."

The cook rolled her eyes.

"Mr. Devilly, don't you agree? Master Ricardo and his friend are—"

"Well-suited? Yes, I see those two eloping and having many children together," Ivor dreamily stated.

"EH!"

"Mr. Devilly, when did you last get your spectacles checked?" the cook patiently asked, taking his glasses and furiously wiping them with her apron.

He took them from her and said, "Why, when I first got them, of course, lady cook."

The old lady sighed and sat down, as if all this was too much for her. The girls meanwhile were exchanging looks. "He's a boy."

"And he isn't of Master Ricardo's social or financial class."

"They are most definitely not suited."

"Ay, shut your traps. You ain't of any of the master's classes either, social or financial. 't least that boy's got _school_ classes with 'im. He's got something on you while you've got nothing he ain't got," jeered a boy who had just entered, wearing dirty overalls

The girls immediately bristled.

The boy seemed to think for a minute before adding, "Except breasts."

The girls furiously blushed and the youngest cried out, "Why does the master favor him? What has that boy got that we don't!"

"A brain and a dick."

"Agh! You vulgar boy, Mateo," the girls chorused.

"Oh, just let the girls alone, Mateo," Ivor Devilly wisely advised. "They're just jealous. That one he got in the car was a real looker. I know them babies going to be appearing soon. Then this house won't be so very lonely." He smiled cheekily.

The boy named Mateo scoffed and snatched a muffin before disappearing out the door. The cook shook her head at the new chauffeur and wondered just how he had landed the job.

~X~

Ricardo plopped down on his low-set leather couch while Giotto took the bean bag in front of the flat-screen. He leaned back with his eyes closed for a while. He wanted to think.

Giotto freely studied the room while Ricardo was busy doing his thinking. It never ceased to amaze him how such an arrogant, cool, and collected perfect model student could be…such a slob. He inwardly despairingly sighed at the state that the once immaculate room was currently in.

The bed was unmade, and most of the pillows had fallen to the floor as no one had bothered to pick them up. There were dress shirts messily draped over the couch and random articles of clothing strewn about. There were several shot glasses on the glass coffee table but no bottles to be found anywhere. There was a panty hanging by the corner of the TV, which Ricardo quickly stowed away into a cabinet, and several weights resting on top of the speakers. Next to the door of the adjacent bathroom was a stack of glossy magazines. Giotto was afraid to check the bathroom…so he didn't. To the left was a mini-bar, also littered with glasses and behind it, peeking over the counter, was what appeared to be a big red sack, bulging with what could only be boxes. A laptop was precariously balanced on top of a pyramid of wineglasses.

The last corner was Ricardo's den. It was where he studied, and as far as Giotto could see, it was the only tidy area in the entire room. The books were shelved to perfection, the desktop was neat, and the garbage can was not overflowing.

"Ricardo, when was the last time you had your maids clean your room?"

"A few weeks ago…Around the same time I caught one of them going through my underwear drawer."

A grin tugged at Giotto's lips. "So you're an underwear person."

"Never said that," Ricardo gruffly replied.

"But you just admitted to having an underwear drawer."

"And you didn't admit to anything. So must I assume you don't wear anything underneath—" Ricardo pointed at Giotto and sliced a vertical line through the air, "—that?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"You…really don't?"

Giotto flashed Ricardo a mischievous smirk. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

Ricardo wondered if Giotto caught the hidden innuendo imbedded in his own words. "If you say so…"

"Hey, Ricardo?"

Ricardo grunted to show he was listening.

"Let's do our homework."

Ricardo's eyes opened. "In a hurry to get home today?"

"Mmm…Mamma is sick."

"Did she go to a doctor?"

"Doesn't want to."

"But she knows she's sick…"

"I know…She's stubborn."

"Worried?"

"Very. She's the only one I have left."

Ricardo didn't know what to say to that. They were both silent.

Then Giotto smiled and gracefully rose from his seat. "C'mon, let's do our homework."

"…" Ricardo wished Giotto would stop trying to hide his inner turmoil behind a smile. It was painful too watch.

~X~

"His father left his mother before he was even born. I doubt they were even married."

_Rumors…_

"So he does not even know his father."

_Unfortunate child…_

"He is most likely a bastard. I hear he lives in the slums…"

_Such a pity…_

"Why does he go to Master Ricardo's school then, if he is so poor?"

_He has potential and enough motivation…_

"Scholarship."

"His mother is a gold-digging harlot. She probably taught her son the tools of the trade. Now he has his sights set on Master Ricar—"

The door slammed open and revealed a tall daunting figure leaning against the frame. The contemptuous voices stopped.

The maid servants watched in stunned silence as Ricardo entered with a murderous look in his eyes. His lips were drawn into a thin line and his brows were furrowed, indicating that he was indeed very, very pissed. He had obviously heard what had been said.

Yet he said nothing as he strode to the counter to pick up the confection-laden tray. He continued to say nothing until he reached the last step, right before the intricately-carved French doors. "I want drinks sent up in five minutes. If you fail to deliver, you will be fired for disobeying an order."

With that, he left, seemingly calm on the outside, when in all actuality, he felt the exact opposite.

~X~

Giotto was sitting on the bed with one foot tucked under the opposite knee when Ricardo arrived. He flinched when he heard the door being forcefully slammed and slowly lowered his book.

"What's the matter?"

Ricardo placed the overflowing tray on top of the nearest table and whipped around to face Giotto, looking positively livid. With a benign smile, Giotto rose and went to Ricardo. Then he reached up to tenderly pet Ricardo on the head. "Calm down."

"I am calm," Ricardo said between clenched teeth, trying not to react to the strange fluttering in his belly.

"No, you're not."

"I am."

"You're not."

"I am."

"You're not."

"I am."

"You're not."

"I'm not.

"Now you're calm."

"Tch."

"What's the matter?"

"…" Ricardo removed Giotto's hand from his head, trying to buy time to come up with a lie. "The tray wasn't sent up because the maids were too busy talking about other people's lives instead of minding their own and doing their job." Ricardo's frown deepened. "They should be fired."

Giotto grinned. "You are too severe."

"What they did is considered insubordination," Ricardo sullenly insisted.

Giotto laughed and plopped down on the bed again. "Well," he sighed. "Let's finish this so I can go home and cook dinner…"

"Hn."

Giotto hummed as he skimmed over his textbook.

Ricardo lowered himself on to the edge of the mattress, quietly pondering...

(a/n: Mou…I can't help but think that this tale has taken a turn for the worse. And that I seem to make a habit out of ending chapters at the most inappropriate times. So…I'm guessing quite a few people will be confused or at least curious…That's good cuz then you would have to stay tuned in order to satisfy your curiosity =w=~ If not, well…it's been a nice run. Thank you for reading up 'til here! If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask.)

.::End remarks::.

ILU my dearest readers and reviewers!

Special shout-outs to those who have reviewed CDG thus far: The Sora-muffin, xwee, I.A.A.N, DappleSora, , Seeker-Of-The-Heart, Elementstar, CH0C0CANDYZ, Roriette, DevineEssence, -Arashi-Storm-Guardian-, Lenah-1827, 3466-0402, natsuu, marsnmonkey

Thank you all~

Don't forget to leave a review! (The new review button is tantalizing is it not?) If you have time, I mean! Ciao-ciao!


	7. Reaction

Disclaimer: *sign says:_ Characters belong to Amano Akira_*

Warnings: ...

(A/N: ...)

Upon finishing the last math problem on his sheet, Giotto put away his pencil and let out a satisfied sigh. "I'm done," he declared.

From behind Giotto, Ricardo let out an unintelligible murmur. He was laid out on his side, perched on top of an array of pillows with an elbow propped up to support his head. His back was against the headboard and his textbook was wide open at an angle in front of him. He turned a page and continued skimming the text but frowned when he didn't see what he was looking for.

The blonde craned his neck to look at Ricardo's semi-finished worksheet. Then he leaned back, purposely resting his head on top of Ricardo's book, and grinned.

"Move," ordered Ricardo.

"Let's take a break," Giotto cheerfully suggested.

"No," Ricardo shot back.

"C'mon," Giotto whined. He reached up and traced the creases on Ricardo's forehead. "You look like you could use a break."

Ricardo nudged the book, causing Giotto's head to shift but otherwise stay on top of the glossy pages.

"Want help?"

"I don't need help."

"Do so. You've been on that problem for half an hour now."

"You exaggerate."

Giotto secretly smiled when he saw Ricardo's cheek twitch. "Perhaps. But that is beside the point. You were murmuring to yourself a moment ago; your cheek is twitching; and you're frowning. The great Ricardo-sama does not do all three simultaneously unless he is completely at a loss. Heck, you even cracked open the text book. That can only mean that you are indeed in need of dire assistance."

"I don't need help."

"Giotto already finished problem thirty-four~"

Ricardo would've rolled his eyes if he weren't captivated by Giotto's slender hands roaming his face, smoothening out the faint grooves that his frowns made. "I don't need help," Ricardo repeated.

"Giotto also has the notes from the day Ricardo was absent that he was supposed to give Ricardo but forgot to," Giotto announced in a single breath.

Ricardo's lip twitched.

Giotto's lips curved up. "Want my help now?"

"No, I just need the notes," Ricardo replied, snaking his arm past Giotto to grab the blonde's discarded school bag.

"Ah!" Giotto reached up and snatched his bag when it passed over him.

A vicious game of tug-of-war ensued. Surprisingly enough, Giotto won. Ricardo idly wondered, as he rubbed his sore jaw, if there was something Giotto was hiding in that bag. He had never seen the blonde look so panicked before. And neither had he ever seen Giotto act so aggressively over a mere thing. His musings were cut short as a knock sounded at the door. Both heads shot up and Giotto busied himself with putting away his things while the dark-haired teen went to answer the door.

It was the cook come to deliver their drinks. Ricardo quietly thanked her before taking the tray and returning to Giotto. After coercing Giotto into trading the notes for a double mocha latte topped with whipped cream, Ricardo went back to his homework. The next couple of hours passed in relative silence, both content in simply basking in each other's presence.

~X~

It was half past eight when Ricardo and Giotto finally noticed the time. Outside, the sky had darkened and a few twinkling stars were beginning to appear. With the sun submerged beneath the purple silhouette of the distant mountains, the horizon was distinguishable only as a broken streak of mottled hues.

As Giotto walked down the steps to the awaiting car Ricardo reached out to pat him on the head, successfully mussing his already tousled hair. "Tell your mom I said hi."

"Will do," Giotto answered with a lopsided grin. He bid Ricardo goodnight and went on his way.

The ride home was quiet and uneventful. The rain assaulted them once they entered the highway. Giotto was suddenly glad Ricardo had been persistent in having him driven home by the chauffeur. The tired blond listened to the smooth purr of the car engine and eventually nodded off with his cheek pressed against the cold glass.

Giotto jolted awake with Beethoven's Fifth blaring from the car's surround sound speakers and into his vulnerable ears. Mr. Devilly flashed him a pseudo-concerned look before apologizing. Giotto forced a smile and said, "It's alright."

The chauffeur gallantly escorted Giotto to his doorstep before wishing him a good night and departing at the velocity of twice the speed limit, due north.

Giotto shook his head and entered his house, eager to get to bed.

He showered up and belatedly decided to have some real food before going to sleep. He brushed his teeth afterwards, and crept into his mom's room to kiss her goodnight. Then he went to sleep and dreamt of smooth, sun-kissed skin, sharp grey eyes, and silky black locks, lazily splayed out…

~X~

Friday morning was strange. Giotto noticed that Ricardo avoided him like the plague, several people smiled at him—including Squalo, which, quite frankly, scared the crap out of him—and strangers seemed to appear out of nowhere just to aid him. One flamboyant stranger went as far as try to aid him in zipping up his fly in the bathroom. It was a strange morning indeed.

Afternoon classes were cancelled due to an assembly. Giotto was spared from the strangeness for a couple of hours, but, unfortunately for him, strangeness was to be replaced by boredom. And so, Giotto wallowed in boredom until the chairman dismissed them all with a benign smile that could melt the iciest of hearts.

Giotto took the long way to his locker, walking at a leisurely pace and fully intent on taking his sweet time. He merrily whistled an off-key tune and greeted the few people he met on the way. That school halls tended to be bustling with students and staff in the afternoons, especially after assemblies, but there was hardly anyone around, oddly enough. Perhaps the members of the various clubs were off in field trips. Or maybe they were already in their respective club rooms. Giotto thought no more of it as he strode purposefully towards the staircase.

Just as Giotto was about to climb the stairs, a glance upward forced him face to face with a wiry, bespectacled redhead, who looked awfully constipated. As the redhead noticed Giotto, his brilliant green eyes widened and the hand that wasn't placed protectively over his nonexistent stomach rose up to pointedly jab at the air. As the seconds wore on, the look on the redhead's face morphed from anxious to frantic. His pointed finger was still insistently jabbing the air, gesturing for Giotto to…look behind him, perhaps.

The blonde merely blinked at the odd behavior. Not a second later, his head collided with a blunt object and the last thing he saw was the floor rushing up to meet his face.

~X~

His head felt groggy and when he opened his eyes, black spots danced in his vision. Someone helped him sit up, and he winced, feeling the sharp throbbing at the back of his head.

"—you alright? Are you alright?"

Giotto shook his head to clear away the fuzz in his eyesight—which was a mistake—and vaguely registered the sound as Ricardo's voice. "'m fine," he mumbled drowsily. He swayed once or twice, and promptly passed out again.

"I can't believe this," Ricardo muttered, massaging the bridge of his nose in an effort to not go ahead and stab a certain silver-haired freak in the eye with the pen at hand. The fountain pen was from his father and custom-made specifically for him. Superbi is so not worth it, his logical mind airily reasoned. "Tell me again why you decided to hit him on the head with a baseball bat instead of drugging and blindfolding him like we planned?"

The slim, ordinarily loud-mouthed shark squirmed uncomfortably beneath Ricardo's pinning gaze. His partner in crime, a lanky younger blonde with death-defying bangs, giggled humorlessly. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the aura surrounding Ricardo clearly indicated that perhaps now was not the best time to retort with a smartass comment. He valued his life enough not to say anything.

"We wanted to make his day memorable," the silver-head finally declared, looking away.

The frown set on Ricardo's brow deepened, if possible.

Fortunately, Giotto chose that moment to announce that he was awake by standing up, falling over, and knocking a glass of water to the floor, all in a span of 7.5 seconds. The action distracted Ricardo, thus allowing Squalo and his blonde friend to escape unscathed.

Ricardo was at Giotto's side in an instant. "Stay down, fool," he reprimanded, pushing Giotto back down on the medical bed.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

"Are so."

"You are not fine."

"I know how I'm feeling, alright? And I'm telling you, I'm fine!"

The two continued to bicker, unaware of the man who had pulled away the drapes and was standing, observing them. The man cleared his throat. Two sets of eyes switched to him and he frowned. "Look. This is _my_ infirmary. You're both male. So get out." He stared at Ricardo, probably because he was undeniably male while the other looked like he only needed a breast implant. It was the hair. Definitely the hair.

Ricardo, who was only slightly shorter than the stranger, stood up to his full height and coolly stared back. "My friend is injured." He fought the urge to wrinkle his nose at the scent that assaulted his nose. Cigarettes.

"I don't see blood."

"He was hit on the head with a baseball bat." Ricardo's mouth was a thin line on his immaculate face as he studied the stranger.

The guy, who he assumed was the new nurse the secretary had mentioned in the previous student council meeting, had opted to wear a black dress shirt with a silk, purple tie underneath his doctor coat, along with black slacks. His shoes were black and polished. Italian leather, Ricardo surmised. His hairstyle vaguely resembled that of the transfer student whose file Ricardo had handled in passing, except it was dark brown in color. His facial features were fine, Ricardo noted blandly. His eyes were lazily half-lidded, as if it was too much effort to open them fully, his nose was high-bridged and decidedly Italian, and his lips were thin and curled downwards at the edges. The light stubble along his jaw served to accentuate his masculine features, which, for some reason, pissed Ricardo off greatly. Ricardo had no facial hair. Yet.

"Well, he looks alright now."

"Aren't you supposed to check?" Ricardo was getting just a tad bit irritated.

"I'm supposed to be tending frail young ladies who skin their knees during phys. Ed., but we don't always get what we want, now do we?"

Ricardo pulled up his haughty, I'm-the-heir-to-an-influential-company-and-a-shitload-of-money face and said, "I demand that you treat my friend."

Upon hearing that, the older man turned tail and went to sit behind his sterile white desk in the corner of the room. He propped up his feet on the table and crossed them at the ankles. "No can do."

"And why is that?" Ricardo asked dangerously, stalking over to stand before the desk in all his intimidating glory.

"I don't treat men."

The answer admittedly stunned Ricardo for a moment, but he quickly regained his rein on his facial muscles. "Bullshit."

Giotto, who had been watching the exchange with apprehension and a slight amount of amusement, flinched and decided to step in. He jumped of the bed and went to stand next to Ricardo, casually linking their arms together. "I'm fine, Ricardo," he calmly said, looking up at his friend.

Ricardo regarded him with a frown. Irritation, impatience, and worry laced his voice when he spoke. "You were hit on the head with a bat."

"But I've told you repeatedly, I'm fine now."

"We need to make sure you're okay," Ricardo stubbornly persisted.

"I've taken harder hits on the head. Why are you so hung up on the issue?" Giotto asked exasperatedly.

'_Because it was my fault this time…'_ Ricardo shook his head and pulled his arm away from Giotto's tight clasp. Then he wordlessly made his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Giotto asked, voice oddly tremulous. He hasn't meant to anger Ricardo…

"The old auditorium," Ricardo curtly replied.

The door opened and closed, leaving Giotto alone with the bored-looking nurse.

~X~

After exchanging names with the new nurse a.k.a. _Dr._ Shamal, and denying having a female relative, Giotto briskly made his way to the third floor, where he hoped Ricardo was waiting. He really wanted to apologize for his appalling behavior. Ricardo's well-hidden protective side had only been manifesting, after all. He wasn't intentionally trying to offend. Giotto had reacted terribly, snapping at him like that! And he felt absolutely revolting for having treated Ricardo unwarrantedly.

The blonde silently berated himself as he rushed down the hall, skidding to a stop in front of a set of double doors. His eyes were large and watery as he pushed open the door, the name of his amico at the tip of his tongue.

The sudden burst of light blinded him and the exuberant greeting was almost deafening.

"SURPRISE!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Giotto!"

(a/n: *note says: _'The lousy author of this story has not given up. But she fears for her life and is hiding behind the couch with her manga and headphones. And for the record, she only updated this fic after reading the 40 reviews she didn't even know she got o.o Suffice to say, she was instantly revived and is thankful to all those who had read this far.'_*)


	8. Lies and Truths

Disclaimer: MRF holds no claim over any of the characters, except maybe for some unimportant oc's. All Katekyo Hitman Reborn Characters belong to Akira Amano-san and certain companies involved.

Warnings: AU, un-beta'd, alcohol, possible ooc-ness, yaoi (actually, I've been told shounen-ai would be a better word for it but the love continues until they're old, so whatev..)

(A/N: I must be crazy. Here I am, chin-deep in schoolwork, and what do I do? I flipping write fanfiction. And man, does it feel nice...anyway, here is your eight chapter. I enjoyed writing it. I hope you guys like it. What else? Um...looking for a beta..? Someone who will bully me into writing faster, spot my grammar errors and plot inconsistencies, basically be my mother/editor. I'l totally love you forever and I'd take care of you and have your babies - well, maybe not that last part, but I would totally take care of you and love you forever~ Did I just shamelessly put up an ad for a beta-reader? Why, yes, yes I did. I'm not sure how well that'll work out, but...well. Here, enjoy!)

Maybe…he'd…stepped into the wrong room?

Giotto darted glances at the mostly unfamiliar faces crowding around him and did a headcount. There were about two dozen people occupying the room. Most wore blinding smiles on their faces that, after a few moments of awkward silence, began to twitch at the corners, as if they had been forced to smile and were continuing to do so in fear of a very painful, very traumatic punishment.

"H-hi," Giotto greeted timidly.

The twitches became more pronounced. "U-uhh…can I—have you…" Giotto cleared his throat to avoid the potentially embarrassing prepubescent-to-pubescent shifting of his voice. "I'm looking for Ricardo. Is he here?"

There were fervent nods and the synchronized motioning of several hands to the direction of the utility closet. Giotto smiled gratefully and all but marched toward the closet, looking as if he were about to go to war. He saw Xanxus's gang lounging against the wall out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored them.

Upon reaching the door, he threw the door open—

"Fuckers, I thought I told you to-!"

—and launched himself at the sitting figure on top of an overturned bucket. Arms automatically went around him to steady him and the door loudly slammed shut.

"What the fu—"

"Don't curse!" Giotto yelled, pressing his face into the young man's shoulder. God, how he missed his scent…musk, and cologne, and whiskey, and-hold up, what? That was a rather strange smell for Ricardo…

"Hey…"

His voice sounded strange too. Lower, deeper, a tad raspy, and breathless. Almost as if…as if…Ricardo had a fever! Instead of pulling away, Giotto held on to Ricardo tighter, wanting to tell him that it was all going to be okay and that Giotto wasn't afraid of being infected.

Oh, what a heartwarming moment it was.

Giotto felt something shifting near his foot. He furtively peeked over Ricardo's shoulder and saw, to his great surprise, a very familiar, very angry, and very scary face glaring disgustedly at him. Just then, one of Ricardo's hands flew from the small of his back down to his delicate hips, surreptitiously lowering still until it was subtly groping his ass.

Giotto's eyes widened into saucers and he gave a small squeak—both in recognition of the other person sprawled on the floor and the desecration of his hind parts.

'_I-if the guy on the floor, looking flushed and breathless, glaring at me like he wants to skewer me is-is…S-squalo…th-then…_'

Giotto blinked rapidly before turning his head ever so slowly to look at whose lap he was really sitting in.

Just then, the door burst open. Giotto whipped around to look and, for a split second, saw Ricardo's tall frame standing outlined in a white, ethereal glow at the door. Then, Ricardo moved and Giotto was smoothly pulled out of the closet by his collar.

Ricardo—it was really Ricardo this time—inspected him briefly before dropping him to the floor. Then, the dark-haired student council president took a couple of steps forward, so that he was standing on the doorframe of the utility closet, and had a lengthy staring contest with whoever was in there.

Giotto, who was still slightly winded, tried to peek into the closet, and almost choked on air when he saw that he had been right.

Xanxus! Xanxus had felt him up! In a utility closet! And worse yet, the bastard was standing head to head with Ricardo, participating in the staring contest, and had the audacity to display a smirk on his smug face. Giotto felt a furious blush rising to his cheeks at the realization. He thought Ricardo might've been angry too because he looked like he wanted nothing more than to punch Xanxus' lights out and he probably would have done it too, had two blondes—namely Spanner, not Scanner, and Dino—not been restraining his arms.

Behind Xanxus, Giotto could see Squalo, whose back was turned, busying himself with his shirt. It took a few seconds for things to click together. Giotto's gaze was drawn to the shelves housing various cleaning supplies and zeroed in on an opened bottle of—Giotto squinted—strawberry lube. His hands flew up to his face and he reeled back in immediate realization.

Weird smell. Weird voice. Attractively disheveled, not to mention flushed and breathless, Sharky. Horny Xanxus. And the lube_._ That all pointed to one thing. And Giotto was not naïve enough to not know what that something was.

Giotto had barged in on two people who were…while…

Sweet Jesus, how was he ever going to live this down?

~X~

"Giotto, it really is okay," Ricardo repeated for the fourth time, awkwardly patting his _amigo_ in the back.

"No, it's not," Giotto moaned, burying his face in his hands. "I walked in on two people who were…who were…oh God, Ricardo!"

Ricardo sighed inwardly and stood up. "Look, if you want to angst over that, then fine. I'm not going to stop you. But at least go blow out your candles first."

Giotto raised his head to glance at Ricardo, who was looking at the floor exasperatedly as if it were the one causing him problems. Then he took a look around, before glancing back at Ricardo again.

"I'm sorry, Ricardo."

"If you want to cry in priva—what?"

Giotto smiled apologetically. "For being inconsiderate. You did all this for me," he gestured around with a sweep of his arm, "and all I've done so far is snap at you and cry. I'm sorry for being a selfish brat and ruining it."

Ricardo's lips curled at the corners. "You still have a couple of hours to un-ruin it."

A half hour later found Ricardo and Giotto standing in the middle of a ring of people, baseball bat and squirt gun in hand, respectively.

Everyone else was sitting on the ground looking apprehensive and unsure. It was either because of the two third years who had weapons, or the fact that they all each had been forced to sit beside a person who looked dangerously frightening even with their funny-looking pompadours. The two standing in the middle didn't seem to particularly care that a majority of their audience were terrified. Giotto was standing with his hips cocked to the side and gun pointed at the ceiling. Ricardo meanwhile had the bat resting against his shoulder and looked as cool as ever.

All the guests, Xanxus, Squalo, and Levi excluded, were arranged in a crooked circle. There was the ditzy blonde with the superstar looks, Dino; the dandelion-haired curly top, Spanner; his companion, the gangly bespectacled redhead, Shouichi; Giotto's brunette crush, Tsunayoshi; two of Tsunayoshi's friends, a fellow brunette who was reading Moby Dick, and a petite, blue-eyed boy with dirty blonde hair; a senior with slicked back blonde hair and a 'come hither' look in his gray eyes; Xanxus' groupies, the lanky, tiara-wearing blonde named Belphegor and the muscular martial artist with the neon green Mohawk, Lussuria; and several tough-looking thugs who were Ricardo's acquaintances.

"Listen up for the rules," Ricardo announced. He nodded to Giotto who took over from there.

"The point of the game," Giotto began mysteriously, "is to find out who's the best liar! You have to tell us two truths and a lie, and we," he gestured to Ricardo and himself, "have to guess which the lie is. If we're wrong, you're in for the next round. If we're right, you're out. Whoever wins gets the mystery prize!" He ended with a grin and an experimental squirt of the gun. "Oh, and we get to punish you if we guess right too!"

The grumblings and worried mutterings began but didn't last for long because Xanxus and Squalo chose that time to emerge from the connecting classroom they had been doing their business in and opted to join. They plopped down on a spot in the circle and the others scooted back to make room for them.

"I go first," Xanxus declared. "I was a choir boy, I bottomed for this scum," he jerked a thumb at Squalo, who began sputtering at once, "and I…" His bored demeanor slowly morphed into sadistic amusement. "I once seduced the student council president while he was drunk."

There was a collective silence before the sound of squirting water reached everyone's ears, along with the line, "That last one is a complete lie!"

All eyes were trained on the wielder of the squirt gun, who was biting his bottom lip petulantly. "I-it's impossible, be-because…because Ricardo isn't like that at all!"

Xanxus, face drenched with strawberry kiwi juice, opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again to laugh out loud. Giotto looked at him confusedly for a moment before turning around to face Ricardo. "Why…?"

Ricardo fought the urge to roll his eyes at his look-alike's immaturity. "Actually, it's true. He did seduce the student council president, back in junior high. But it was a _she_, if I remember correctly."

Xanxus's laughter quieted to a dark chuckle. "You can't expect me to remember all their genders. I've had tons of fu—"

"So which one was the lie?" Giotto interrupted.

A flash of annoyance crossed Xanxus's visage but it was soon replaced by a smug smirk. "I never bottom." He stood up abruptly and pulled his annoyed companion to his feet. "C'mon scum, you need to get me cleaned up." They left the circle, not caring if they stepped on some poor loser's hand.

"Well," Giotto began to say, unsure of how to get rid of the awkwardness that had settled over them. "I'm, uh…um…"

"Dino, go next," Ricardo all but commanded. He was faintly annoyed with his old friend's antics—Xanxus was his neighbor and childhood friend—but he mellowed out as the game went on.

By the fourth round, only about half a dozen people were left in the circle and the rest were dripping with pink, sticky liquid. Spanner and Shouichi remained dry, surprisingly. Xanxus and Squalo never came back, but their two companions were still in. The blonde senior with the 'come hither' eyes, whose name was Gamma, was still in also. A couple of Ricardo's thuggish friends made up the last of the contestants left standing. The others who had already lost were milling about the room eating, chatting, or watching the game.

Giotto, who, a few rounds ago had been somewhat out of it, turned to the seven participants with a wide grin. "Congratulations for making it all the way to round four."

"Thanks," Spanner intoned. The rest remained bleakly silent.

"For this round, we're taking it up another notch." Giotto's smile wavered. "I'm not all for it but…you guys basically have to get drunk so we can see if you're as good a liar sober as you are inebriated."

The blonde, Gamma, smiled almost perversely. "S'long as I don't have to pay for the booze."

"E-eto…" stuttered the redhead, clutching his stomach. "I'm not sure if this is a good idea…"

"Hmm?" Spanner, who had a lollipop stick poking out from between his lips, flashed him a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Shouichi. You don't have to keep playing if you don't want to."

"But what about you?" Shouichi exclaimed. He had to push up his thick-rimmed glasses afterwards because his excitable movements misplaced it. "What am I supposed to tell your mom when I lug you home drunk? What's worse, I don't even know if I _can_ lug all the way home in that state. You're pretty heavy, you know. And I'm puny compared to you thanks to my genetic makeup! Besides, you're only fifteen! You're not supposed to be drinking! If the teachers find out about this—mmph!" Shouichi was forced to pause mid-rant because Spanner had stuffed a cherry-flavored lollipop into his mouth.

"Shouichi…" Spanner was looking at him stoically. "Don't worry." A smile broke through his face that made Shouichi blush heatedly. "I promise to stop once I start feeling tipsy."

The gangly redhead nodded mutely, tonguing the hard candy inside his mouth. It was sweet.

Off to the side, the two members of Xanxus' little gang was having a conversation of their own.

"Bel, hun, I think you should skip out on this one," the elder of the two cooed. His voice was forced to sound feminine and a few people around him balked upon hearing it.

The lanky blonde giggled. "_Niente modo_. The prince never quits a competition, no matter how ludicrous. A few drinks won't hurt me. I am a prince, after all." He stuck his tongue out and walked to the small assembled group surrounding Giotto and Ricardo. His burly companion shrugged and followed suit. "Okey, but don't blame me for the hangover later~"

"Alright-y, are you guys ready?" Giotto asked loudly, swinging his arms around excitedly.

Several variations of "yes" answered his question.

"Then let's get this started!" As if on cue, Ricardo opened the cooler and tossed each contestant a bottle of _Peroni_. "Drink up."

The first thug was a lightweight and quit after his third bottle.

The prince didn't last long either. He was caught in a lie about a 'princess frog' and 'a pretty viper'.

Lussuria was disqualified once he started groping the other contestants and began describing his sexual conquests instead of the lie and two truths.

The only one left were Spanner, Gamma, and the other looming thug with the pompadour.

"I…" Spanner began. "…am drunk. I quit."

"Aww, why?"

"Because." Spanner focused his gaze on his redheaded companion who was napping on the couch. "I promised him."

"Boo," Gamma jeered, giving him thumbs down. "C'mon, _amigo_," he said to the pompadour man. "Let's show these little boys what it means to be a real man!"

Ricardo's lips twitched at the corners as he regarded Gamma with an appraising glance. "It's you turn Gamma."

"I'm in love with the chancellor's daughter," he roared drunkenly. "And…and…_shit_. The Literature teacher's standing by the door."

Giotto laughed and pointed his squirt gun at Gamma. "I can believe the first one, so the second one must be the lie," he said with a small giggle, squirting Gamma with some milk. They had run out of juice a while ago.

Ricardo cleared his throat and put a hand on Giotto's shoulder. "No, Giotto, the Literature teacher really is here."

"Wha—?" The blonde whirled around and sure enough, the Literature teacher was there. In the flesh. Black suit, fedora hat, chameleon and all.

"You! What are you doing here?" Giotto exclaimed, pointing at his teacher.

The tall, dark-haired man raised his head, revealing his face. His eyes were sharp and black like freshly cut onyx and it was the first thing one would notice about his face; his other facial features were just as sharp, from his slight eyebrows to his high-bridged nose and pale lips. He had a lean, muscular physique well-hidden beneath the charcoal black suit and orange striped tie. "I have every right to be here. I am your club advisor, after all."

With the coming of the club advisor, the beer disappeared into the cavernous depths of the utility closet and all explicit displays of affection were stopped. Not that there was much, since most of the people in the party were exclusively male. To put it simply, all thought of fun was thrown in the back closet and buried under piles of dirty laundry and old childhood mementos.

Ricardo pulled Giotto to an empty corner of he room and stared him down, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why, of all people, did you choose _him_ to be the club advisor?"

Giotto pouted and stared up at Ricardo. "I didn't. He _volunteered_. And I didn't want to die."

Ricardo gave a sigh and put his hand on top of Giotto's head. He said nothing, simply observed the random activities in the room.

Spanner was nursing a headache on the couch with Shouichi frantically hovering beside him. Gamma was passed out on the floor with his drinking buddy, the pompadour man. The effeminate martial artist was crouching beside the two men, poking them experimentally while his blonde companion stood to the side, looking sick and lost. The three first years were huddled together on a loveseat, being interrogated by the Literature teacher, whose sinister smirk made the honey-eyed brunette sweat and shake in his seat. The other brunette was calmly ignoring everything going on around him; his caramel eyes were fixed on the miniature text of his large book. The blonde meanwhile was looking up at the teacher pleasantly. He, of the three, seemed most comfortable. The clumsy blonde from his first period History class was nowhere to be seen. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Xanxus and Squalo making out behind a potted plant.

"Ricardo," Giotto uttered helplessly. "You're going to make me even shorter than I already am."

"You're not going to get short because of my hand sitting on top of your head," Ricardo replied, giving Giotto a pat on the head. His hair was so soft. "C'mon, time to blow your candles."

Giotto beamed and turned around. "Torta!" He glanced over his shoulder and grinned cheekily. "Did you get me a rabbit cake?"

~X~

After the party, Ricardo had Giotto wait in the car while he arranged for the janitor to clean up the club room. He had another custodian load Giotto's presents in the trunk. When he came out, Giotto was slumped over the seat, golden locks spilling onto the leather. A fond smile flickered over Ricardo's lips before he slipped inside and shook his friend awake.

Giotto moaned in reply, refusing to move. When Ricardo kept on badgering him, he sat up and dropped his head on Ricardo's lap. "Grazie mille, Ricardo," he said sleepily with a slight smile.

Ricardo swallowed. "You're welcome…"

The rest of the ride was spent in relative silence. The only sound that could be heard was their even breathing and the muted Italian lullaby trickling from the stereo.

Ricardo escorted the lethargic Giotto to the doorstep, reminded him to lock the doors, and said goodbye. Giotto gave him a quick hug before saying goodnight and going inside.

He watched Ricardo's car from the window and waited until it was out of sight. When he was sure Ricardo had gone, he hurried to his room and changed out of his uniform into black jeans and a stylish gray pullover. He grabbed a messenger bag from behind his bedroom door and checked on his mom before slipping on a knitted beret and heading out.

He was, beyond doubt, late for work but he hoped his boss wouldn't mind too much.

(a/n: I'm not up to date with the manga anymore ever since I deleted all my bookmarks, accidentally of course. So, Ricardo's name may not be Ricardo, but I'm sticking to it. Unless you guys really want me to change it...The Shimon's not going to be showing up anytime soon. Sorry. Ditto with the first gen. I love them, really I do, but I'll probably ruin everything and make them all ooc. Speaking of which, sorry for the ooc-ness. And for the not pre-mentioned pairings. Should I put up a warning of the pairings next time? Some people might not be too happy with me...Feel free to grill me or whatever floats your boat =w=' )

.::End remarks::.

ILU my dearest readers and reviewers!

Special shout-outs to mah reviewers: The Sora-muffin, xwee, I.A.A.N, DapplexD, Seeker-Of-The-Heart, Fire-tan - Element Star, CH0C0CANDYZ, Roriette, DevineEssence, -Arashi-Storm-Guardian-, Lenah-1827, 3466-0402, natsuu, marsnmonkey, pongcan, ThreeWayDart, set, xmelonBreadx, 6p9q2n7a18

Now I must go off to finish my schoolwork. See you again next time!


	9. Recruit! Gokudera

Disclaimer: MRF holds no claim over any of the characters, except maybe for some unimportant oc's. All Katekyo Hitman Reborn Characters belong to Akira Amano-san and certain companies involved. Two strikes in a row; I have nothing creative to add here.

Warnings: AU, failed attempts at humor, surprise pairings, yaoi, OOC-ness, randomness?

(A/N: It feels like it's been forever…I'm sorry for the long wait. But, apologies aside…This chapter is totally dedicated to the person whose love for this story conjured this update. She's super magical. )

He was fast asleep, dreaming an amorphous dream in which reds were blues, lies were truths, and candy fell from the hazy, tie-dye sky. But the scenery soon changed to form a more solid scene. He—they—were standing on a cliff. Giotto, with his sun-kissed hair whipping around his face, stood at the edge of the cliff with his back to him. And he, Ricardo, stood a few feet away, his heart at his throat. "Don't jump," he called out, silently pleading for Giotto to _please_ get the _fuck_ away from the cliff's edge. "If you jump, I'll…I'll…"

Giotto turned his head and smiled his warm, sunny smile, saying nothing.

"I'll follow you," Ricardo continued with more conviction than he felt. "Because you can't leave me. We die together, remember? If you jump, I'm coming after you. If you fall to your death, I'll fall alongside you." '_Where are these words coming from?_' "You'll never be rid of me then, Gi—"

He was interrupted by a shrill scream. He ran forward, forgetting to breath, and crouched at the very edge of the cliff. He almost cried out as he helplessly watched the boneless form plummet to the earth, but his voice was caught; he couldn't utter a single sound, or breathe, it seemed. Then he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the body hit the ground, hoping to drown out the scream.

But the shrill scream continued…and continued…until he finally couldn't bear it and opened his eyes.

He was in his room. It was dark, but he could just make out the all too familiar shadows of the furniture and his room's miscellaneous nooks and cranny.

The digital clock to his right glowed 3:00 AM. He realized, a moment later, that the shrill screaming was coming from his phone, which was vibrating at his feet. He sat up and bent to reach it, looking like a great cat stretching after a nap, and blinked fast as the blinking led screen threw bright lights at his face.

Ricardo flipped open the phone and brought it to his ear, not even bothering to see who was calling.

"This had better be important," he growled in a sleep-laced voice.

"Ciao, Ricardo!"

It was Giotto.

"It's three. In the morning."

"Oh? Really? Already? Sorry, I didn't check the time before I called…"

Ricardo yawned widely before muttering, "S'fine. Did you need something?"

"Huh? Oh, well…"

Ricardo could hear him fidgeting with a zipper.

"I just opened your present," Giotto finally said.

"Oh." Ricardo cleared his throat before attempting to imitate a nonchalant tone. "So…did you like it?"

Giotto hummed thoughtfully, before asking, "Have I told you I love you lately?" His grin was audible in his voice. "Because if I haven't, I deserve to be slapped. It's really…it's awesome. Thank you, Ricardo."

Ricardo let the words cause a pleasant, warm feeling to bloom in his chest before replying quietly, struggling to keep his voice from sounding too pleased. "You're welcome."

"So…what are you doing?"

"Hm…well, I _was_ sleeping."

"So, I did you a favor and woke you up two hours earlier than your alarm clock would have done!"

"You did _not_ do me a favor. So stop dreaming, _idiota_."

"So mean…" Giotto complained.

"I want to go back to sleep…"

"I want to give you a hug."

Ricardo sighed. "I'll let you hug me all you want tomorrow if you let me sleep."

The dark-haired teen gave a start when a menacing cackle sounded from his phone, followed by an exclamation of, "Objective reached!"

"…"

"Alright. _Buona notte_, Ricardo. Sweet dreams!"

~X~

Ricardo had just gotten out of Chemistry and customarily met up with Giotto at his locker so they could go to lunch together. They were passing through the hallway where the music room was located when they heard the energetic playing of the piano. Unlike before, the new song was fast-paced and unrecognizable, an unmatched _vivace_ with sporadic measures of _adagio_ that made both listeners stop in their tracks. They edged closer to the door where the music was flowing from and stopped to listen.

When the song slowed before finally coming to a halt, Giotto instinctively clapped, saying, "That was the best song ever!" Ricardo snorted. Granted, the piece was nicely played, but it was still far from being the 'best song ever'. There were several missed notes, a few inconsistencies, and, well, Ricardo was just really picky with his music.

"Come, Ricardo! We _have_ to meet the pianist who played that," Giotto exclaimed, grabbing Ricardo's hand and pushing open the door.

The music room was a fairly small room, compared to the auditorium, but it had a high, specially modified ceiling that worked well with the sound. It had a circular center stage and upholstered red velvet seats decorating the perimeter. There was also a second level of seats, furnished in a similar fashion as the first. A glossy, wooden half-barrier separated the audience from the platform, where a figure was crouched over now.

It was male, judging by the uniform, and, upon closer inspection, he was fumbling with his bag, which was on the ground by the ornate baby grand piano. He glanced up as Ricardo and Giotto entered and scowled.

Ricardo raised a brow at the shrimp's reaction, while Giotto either missed it or merely chose to ignore it.

"Did you want something?" the boy asked, standing up.

He was rather short with a petite build and glossy silver hair, styled in an awfully familiar hairdo. Come to think of it, his face looked rather familiar too…

Ricardo stepped up and climbed the platform, eyes narrowing as he tried to remember where he had seen that face before. Giotto followed him.

"You're the new transfer student, aren't you? Hayato Gokudera," Ricardo finally said.

"It's Gokudera Hayato, you dick," the boy replied, frowning.

"This isn't Japan, squirt. We don't say names backward here," Ricardo replied evenly with an annoyed frown of his own.

"O-kay. Come on, guys. Calm down," Giotto interrupted. He stepped between the two and flashed the shorter boy a smile, silently admiring the subtle Asian features adorning the young face. High cheek bones, a pointed chin, and milky skin. But what caught Giotto attention most were his eyes. Twin pools of liquid emerald, burnished with a contained passion for something that Giotto did not yet know. Giotto liked passion. And he liked mysteries even more.

"My name is Giotto," he said, taking the other's wan hand and shaking it vigorously. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hayato."

The silver head covered his flustered reaction with another scowl. "Tch."

Giotto merely smiled, cheeks dimpling as he did. "The guy behind me is my best friend, Ricardo. He looks really mean at first glance, but he's actually pretty tame. Like a liger cub! So don't let him scare you."

Ricardo made a sound of protest at that, but Giotto turned to him with a pleading expression and mouthed, '_play along, please.' _So, he shut his mouth and glared at the glossy, wooden planks between his feet.

The younger boy studied their interaction with a great deal of interest, though he pretended to be indifferent. "Did you want something?" he asked, repeating his earlier question. "Because I have to get to class, you know."

Giotto turned, fixing Hayato with a serious stare. "I have a question to ask you."

"What?"

Ricardo rolled his eyes at the suspicious tone, already knowing what was coming.

"Would you…like to join my club?"

"What?"

"Join my club. The Vongola. We're awesome. Totally better than the Millefiore. I mean, what kind of sissy name is that, right?"

"One that's better than _clam_," Hayato muttered.

"So will you?" asked Giotto, completely ignoring him.

There was a pregnant pause that followed.

"…no."

"But why?"

"I don't like labels."

"But it's not a label, it's a club!"

"Same thing."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"N—"

"Alright, that's enough, _children_," Ricardo said dryly.

"Come on, Hayato! Join us," Giotto hissed.

The boy wrinkled his nose and turned to Ricardo. "Is he always like this?"

"He is," Ricardo curtly replied, to which Giotto protested indignantly by making an odd assortment of noises.

The corners of Hayato's lips quirked up minutely. "I might. But if I'm late for class, it's a no."

Giotto crowed with delight. Then he turned a triumphant grin at the boy. "Let's go then."

~X~

Hayato Gokudera's tardiness was excused due to the fact that the student body president had prior business with him. Ricardo complained that it was an abuse of power, but Giotto merely shrugged before attaching himself to Ricardo's side. Ricardo couldn't complain because he had, after all, verbally given Giotto the right to hug him as much as he wanted.

They made their way to the cafeteria, ignoring the increasing odd looks. Ricardo went to fetch his lunch while Giotto waited by the door, leaning against the wall. A few people from his party yesterday walked by and greeted him. He took the chance to thank them for their gifts, although he hadn't really opened any of it, except Ricardo's.

When Ricardo got back from the line with a tray of spaghetti, Giotto grinned and pushed off the wall. They made their way back to their special spot under the sakura tree and plopped down on the grass.

Giotto didn't have his lunch with him today so he just rolled around the grass, talking about the most random things. Ricardo quietly listened and watched.

When Giotto paused in his story about Japanese visual kei bands and stopped rolling enough to lie on his stomach fix Ricardo with a stare, the dark-haired teen raised a brow and swallowed his food. "Is there something on my face?"

"No…I was just wondering. Isn't the club festival thing next week?"

Ricardo nodded.

"We should set up a booth to recruit members!"

"Why not?" he answered nonchalantly.

Giotto bit his lip and flipped over to lie on his back. "Are you going to be busy with student council?"

"Not really," Ricardo lied. He looked down at his food and then at Giotto. "You hungry?"

The blonde smiled cheekily and opened his mouth. "Feed me," he demanded.

Shaking his head at his friend's antics, Ricardo leaned forward and began feeding Giotto, laughing whenever a noodle slipped off the fork and smeared sauce across the blonde's face.

(a/n: Sorry for any grammar mistakes.)

.::End remarks::.

ILU my dearest readers and reviewers!

Special shout-outs to mah reviewers: The Sora-muffin, xwee, I.A.A.N, DapplexD, Seeker-Of-The-Heart, Fire-tan - Element Star, CH0C0CANDYZ, Roriette, DevineEssence, -Arashi-Storm-Guardian-, Lenah-1827, 3466-0402, natsuu, marsnmonkey, pongcan, ThreeWayDart, Set, xmelonBreadx, 6p9q2n7a18, OneSunnyNight, Kajune and the anonymous reviewer who didn't leave a name.

Thank you!


End file.
